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If you change your name after marriage (or at any point), be ready for additional paperwork. As institutions such as banks and lenders process the name update, occasional challenges may arise.
For instance, one Credit.com reader noticed a hard inquiry on their credit report. The reader shared:
I recently married and changed my name. My landlord noticed my name change on my proof of insurance. When they updated their records, it triggered a hard inquiry on my credit without my consent. Is it lawful for an institution to initiate a hard inquiry just to update [your] last name?
As explained by the site: no, it's not lawful for institutions to perform a hard inquiry without your approval. You provide consent when applying for credit, for example. Soft inquiries don't impact your credit score, but hard inquiries do. In this case, the reader may have confused a soft pull with a hard one, or the data provider could have made an error.
Regardless of the situation, when you change your name, it’s important to check your credit report for potential errors. If you notice a pull, make sure it’s only a soft one—these will be listed in a separate section, labeled accordingly. If you believe it's a hard pull, you can use this sample letter from the FTC to challenge the mistake. For detailed instructions on how to proceed, visit the full post on Credit.com at the link below.Photo by madebyWstudio
